Animal diseases treatable with local herbs

When an animal is sick, the farmer has a genuine reason for anxiety. But we may probably not need the services of the vet each and every time we have to deal with animal health problems.

We are used to calling in the veterinary doctor at the earliest sign of disease in our livestock that some of us actually believe the vet is indispensable.

When an animal is sick, the farmer has a genuine reason for anxiety. But we may probably not need the services of the vet each and every time we have to deal with animal health problems. Not even should we always have to rush to a farmers’ shop for the often expensive vet drugs.

Some of the problems could be treated with herbs right within our environment. And this is a view also shared by Dr Nicholas Ssekabunga, a veterinary Officer and Farm Manager at Kamenyamiggo District Agricultural Training and Information Centre (Datic) in Masaka. “When a goat had worms, there were herbs used to remove them. There were herbs used to treat animal fevers and other ailments. Our forefathers knew which herbs to apply when an animal was experiencing difficulty during delivery. There were even herbs to treat infertility among animals. Just like many of us resort to herbs in the treatment of flu and other common ailments there are herbs that can successfully treat some animal diseases,” said Dr Ssekabuga.

The tendency in Uganda these days is to have more herbalists for human illnesses than for animal diseases. Dr Ssekabunga also thinks our agricultural research organisations should devote more time and money to discovering more about herbal treatment for animal diseases. “Even if some of the herbs are effective in the treatment of the diseases, the dosage is not well understood. For instance, how often should the herb be taken and in what quantities for the young animal and for the grown up animal?

Another problem is that most people with the indigenous knowledge about herbal medicine are not always ready to share it with others,” he said. “The lack of written records further complicates the problem as many of them die suddenly without passing on the knowledge to another generation. A lot of valuable information has been lost in that way and many medicinal herbs have been cut down and become extinct since other people are ignorant about their usefulness. Most herbalists prefer to keep their knowledge to themselves so as to earn money from those who seek treatment.”

Makerere University, the National Agricultural Research Organisation (Naro) and Kamenyamiggo Datic are aware of the usefulness of integrating African indigenous herbal knowledge with modern veterinary medicine and animal husbandry. In a joint project, between 2007 and 2008, they brought together local farmers who were able to share their knowledge in the use of herbs in animal disease treatment. The revelations were quite rewarding. The grass and shrubs we often ignore and pass by are the medicine our animals need to get over a big number of the health problems for which we often rush to call in a vet.

A herbarium consisting of the medicinal plants has as a result been established at Kamenyamiggo Datic and farmers are encouraged to visit it to learn which herbs to try when their animals are sick. Dr Ssekabunga said the farmers are also encouraged to grow the plants on their plots of land. Since the farmers consulted were mainly Luganda speakers the herbs have Kiganda names.

Only a few of the plants carry botanical name labels but they are more or less the same plants found in other parts of Uganda. As a new effort to boost farming, perhaps all other ethnic communities in the country could be brought on board and tasked to reveal their indigenous knowledge in the use of herbal medicine to treat animal diseases. A great wealth of such knowledge must exist especially in the communities that have traditionally lived as cattle keepers and pastoralists.

On display in the herbarium at Kamenyamiggo Datic, Dr Ssekabunga pointed at muluku whose leaves, when crushed in water and the solution applied on a goat’s skin, helps to keep away parasites such as ticks and mites and may also treat mange.

He pointed at pawpaw trees and said crushed dried pawpaw seeds could be effective in expelling worms from a goat’s digestive system. There was a kiyondo used in the treatment of animal fevers, there was a kimyula used to stimulate heat signs among animals that exhibit silent heat, and there was mugina to ease birth and the extraction of retained placenta. The herbarium has many other medicinal plants.

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